£47,000 benefit claimant also ran company

A company director who headed a round-the-clock business delivering organs to hospitals for transplants was jailed for nine months yesterday because he was at the same time illegally pocketing benefits that totalled nearly £47,000.

Gary Lewis, from Pontardawe, south Wales, claimed high level disability allowance, saying he was sometimes unable to stand up or turn on a tap or cooker knob.

Yet Swansea crown court heard that Lewis, 52, was running his business and was the firm's main driver, delivering organs in refrigerated vans and transporting staff between hospitals.

Carl Harrison, prosecuting, told the court Lewis had filled in a claim form outlining his condition in 1996, claiming he was unable to get up from a sitting position without holding on to something, bend his knees or walk more than a few steps without discomfort.

In the form he said: "During a bad week I find it difficult to stand up at all." His hands became swollen even from carrying half a carton of milk, he added.

"At the time he was running his own business, Medicall, transporting organs to hospitals throughout the UK," Harrison said. Estimated income from the contract since 1998 was £21,000 a year.

Lewis had admitted dishonestly claiming disability living allowance, housing benefit, council tax and income support. He also asked for 62 separate offences of obtaining money transfer by deception to be taken into account.

The court heard that Lewis's claims were reviewed on a regular basis from 1998 to December 2005. In 2005, he was confronted with evidence of his business activities but claimed his brother ran the company. During a second interview, he admitted the role he played.

Catherine Richards, defending Lewis, said he had "truly been of good character all his life" and had been a volunteer driver with the Red Cross. He had already started making repayments of £5 a month towards what he had taken.

"What he did was plainly dishonest but it was not a sophisticated setup or organised fraud".